‘Dancing with the Stars’ week 7 rankings: Bill Engvall holds on; Amber Riley still #1
Another week on the “Dancing with the Stars” surprise train has come and gone. We thought before the season that the comedian could last a little longer than some originally projected just because of the show’s midwest fan following and his status as an entertainer, and he has done just that. We believe that his chances of actually winning are pretty much nil, but given the recent shocking eliminations of Snooki and Christina Milian, we feel like this competition really is more unpredictable than it has ever been in past seasons.
This is why you really do have to consider fan following a huge factor in these contestant rankings, at least just as much as the scores that the judges hand out. There are still two or three clear favorites this season, and the rest of the gang is more or less fighting to stick around.
7. Bill Engvall and Emma Slater (last week: 7) – Sweet guy, but if he is not sent home soon people will start to complain that he is getting farther in the competition than he really should, and we don’t want to see him start to be the target of any sort of resentment at all.
6. Leah Remini and Tony Dovolani (8) – These two continue to also survive, though they have performed better than Bill almost every week. Clearly, Leah has a fan base here, but it’s also just that point in the season where almost everyone left is really good, and you have a tough time separating the pretenders and contenders.
5. Brant Daugherty and Peta Murgatroyd (5) – No matter how good of a dancer Brant is, we just cannot see a guy winning when so few people actually know who he is. J.R. Martinez is probably the most obscure winner that the show has had, and even he had an inspirational story as a war hero.
4. Jack Osbourne and Cheryl Burke (5) – This is that oh-so important bit of information known as fan following coming into play. We think that Brant is a better overall dancer than Jack, but he’s the more famous of the two, has an inspirational story, and plenty of famous family and friends to campaign for him. Plus, he’s super-likable.
3. Elizabeth Berkley and Val Chmerkovskiy (3) – We’ll be honest here in saying that early this season, we thought that Berkley would be taken out early in one of those shock exits a la Christina, but she has persevered, and also found a way to appeal to some of her diehard “Saved by the Bell” fans. We still don’t think it will be enough to win, but another finale appearance for Val would be nice.
2. Corbin Bleu and Karina Smirnoff (2) – Did you know that Corbin was at one point almost the host of “The X Factor”? We never thought that we’d say this, but we feel like he lucked out in not getting that gig, and getting this one instead. While the ratings here are down, at least it does not feel so much like a sinking ship.
1. Amber Riley and Derek Hough (1) – If Amber goes home soon, we are going to look very dumb for having her at #1 all season. But if she wins, we will proclaim that we have a finger on the pulse for America. We just think that she’s too famous, too skilled a dancer, and has too big of a “Glee” voting block to be denied the title. Having Derek as her partner also clearly helps.
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Photo: ABC